The Death of Beauty
by missgoflightly
Summary: Sam, Emily, Leah. A prequel of sorts to their twisted love triangle in the 'Twilight saga'.


**Title : **The Death of Beauty

**Author :** cherryola

**Fandom : **Twilight

**Characters:** Sam, Emily, Leah

**Summary :** A prequel of sorts to their twisted love triangle in the 'Twilight saga'.

**Notes : **Kind of hesitant about this so comments, con crit and even flames will be appreciated lots. Not sure I have all of the details right though – is Emily supposed to be from the Makah reservation? If so, we'll just leave that little detail out in this fic, kay? XD Bold quotes from Tori Amos.

**THE DEATH OF BEAUTY **

"_To like and dislike the same things, that is indeed true friendship." - Sallust_

**PART ONE – FRIENDS **

_**one, i knew a boy who would not share his bike, oh but he let me go sailing  
**_

On a cold, cloudless day in late October, five-year-old Emily Young waited quietly on the road outside a train station in Washington, amid throngs of people milling around her. Clad warmly in a tartan fur trimmed coat paired with leather gloves and boots to encase her little hands and feet and clutching a copy of _The Little Princess_ to her chest, Emily waited for the arrival of her aunt, a Mrs. Sue Clearwater to fetch her from the station.

It should be made known to the reader, that Emily possessed a capacity for imagination and daydreaming so vast and unlimited that the little girl often forgot her surroundings in preference for her own fantasies. Particularly following her parents' deaths a few months prior, Emily had found that her only solace and safe haven were usually her daydreams. On this day, she had decided to take on the fanciful part of Mary in _The Secret Garden _about to be whisked off to a magical, mysterious house which she would one day (hopefully) preside over.While she waited for her aunt, she pondered how to make herself as disagreeable as was required for the role.

As Emily considered this train of thought, a woman and another little girl of Emily's age appeared out of the fog. Sue Clearwater was a plumpish woman with a no-nonsense attitude and friendly countenance that endeared her to many in her home town of Forks. It was this very practicality that had made her prime candidate for taking care of the little orphan Emily until her grandfather took her in. Accompanying Sue was her daughter, Leah. Unlike Emily, Leah was dressed carelessly in muddy overalls, beat up trainers and a soiled shirt, her shiny Scout Finch inspired bob bouncing with every step she took. When she saw Emily, her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Emily watched as the pair approached her, her daydreams dissolving with the wind. Her aunt exclaimed and pulled her into her arms as soon as she saw her, an embrace Emily responded to stiffly. Once she was set back down onto her feet, she exchanged polite greetings with the pair and Sue cocked her head to the side thinking _what a queer little girl. _Leah, still gaping a little, was pushed forward by her mother to make an acquaintance with her cousin. For a moment, both girls stared at each other, drinking the other's appearance in.

_She's like the tomboy of the story _Emily decided _we shall be great friends, it would be important for the heroine to befriend such a character. _

_I wonder where she got her coat from _Leah thought _she looks so uncomfortable. When we play I'll have to lend her one of my shirts. _

Finally, once they had both appeared to come to some conclusion about the other, they smiled shyly at one another and above them, unheard, Sue expelled a sigh of relief at their joint approval.

_**two, all that summer we travelled the world, never leaving his own back garden  
**_

Leah Clearwater watched impatiently as her cousin from New York unpacked her belongings and began to arrange them in her tidy little room. Her mother had taken her aside the day before and told her not to bother Emily so Leah was biting her lip as hard as she could to stop herself yelling at Emily to get a move on. How were they ever going to play at this rate?

As Emily knelt down and begin to furnish her doll's house, Leah sighed and folded her arms squarely across her chest. She admitted to herself that she was ever so disappointed at how distinctly different Emily seemed to be from Leah's usual cohorts, she actually owned _frocks _and _parasols _and Leah shuddered as she thought it, _dolls. _Well not just dolls, rather priceless china antiques bought for her by her late wealthy father.

Finally Leah could stand it no longer.

"Em-_ily," _she whined, "Let's go out into the garden."

Emily turned around, blinking her almond-shaped eyes carefully, "I have not finish packing yet, Leah."

"We can pack later," Leah promised her, bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement that Emily had not downright refused her, "I'll even help. We'll just play for half an hour."

"Alright," Emily replied with one last melancholy look at her unfinished doll house. She rose to her feet, smoothing down her rose coloured skirt, "What shall we play?"

Leah wiggled her eyebrows craftily, "Let's play Pirates!"

It would have been false to say that Leah expected her cousin to be a lot of fun. In fact, with her elegant little clothes and the funny way she spoke, Leah expected her to be a complete bore. On the other hand, she persevered for she had always liked making new friends and there was something so...different about this Emily she could not help but to be intrigued by her. However, as they made their way to the garden, Leah realized exactly how wrong her assumptions about her cousin had been.

With the mention of the game, the mere mention of _acting_ of _pretending _of _being somebody else, _Emily burst to life. Eyes sparkling, hair streaming in her wake, Leah – who had always prided herself on her speed – found it hard to keep up. Quickly, they began the most elaborate and most exciting game of Pirates, Leah had ever played.

She watched in wonderment as Emily made them a pair of makeshift hats out of long blades of grass within minutes and then quickly a pair of swords from old twigs to match. Emily examined them both before plucking the nicest hat and sharpest sword and handed them to Leah.

_Well maybe _Leah thought, as she pulled on her hat and scrambled to the hull of their make-believe ship, _we __**can **__be friends after all. _

_**three, and when i promised my hand, he promised me back snow cherries from france  
**_

Six-year-old Sam Uley had run all the way from his house to the Clearwaters' residence. His father had now been missing for four days and his mother was in the final stages of shocked grief, rocking miserable on her unmade bed and balling her fist into her mouth to quench the tears. Eventually, Sam found he could no longer take it and bolted out of the door to escape the voices pounding both outside and inside his head. He stopped as he approached the fence of Leah's house and climbed easily over it, landing with a soft thump on the damp grass of her garden. Brushing long tendrils of hair from his eyes, he looked for her.

Sam Uley was a lonely boy, bitter from his father's actions and his mother's depression. He had a difficult time making friends but he was the only boy Leah Clearwater had ever met who was willing to overlook the fact she was a girl when they played tag or soccer. Since learning this, she had unofficially taken Sam Uley under her wing.

"Sam!"

He swung around and there was Leah running full pelt towards him, clutching an abnormally large branch in her hand. She grabbed his shirt and dragged him to where she was playing.

"Sam, this is my cousin Emily. The one I told you about."

Sam shuffled his feet and looked at Emily. Wearing a pretty skirt and smart blouse, both stained with dirt now, and a leaf over her eye Emily extended her hand. Normally, she was much too reserved to talk to boys but not today, today she was the sea's most fearsome pirate – she had nothing and no one to fear.

"Hello," Sam said awkwardly, a little in awe of both of the girls - for even though they did not know it then, their exceptional prettiness had not been lost on him.

"It's nice to meet you, matey," Emily all but shouted, thrusting her sword in the air, "Arrr!"

Leah giggled, "We're playing Pirates. Do you want to play?"

"Sure," Sam smiled, "No wait. I have a better idea – let's play Fairytales. I'll be the knight, the Prince and one of you be the Witch and the other the Princess."

"I'll be the princess!" Emily cried, yanking Leah's hand but then looked down, bashful at her outburst, "Unless you want to be?"

"Are you kidding?" Leah laughed, snapped her sword in two and brandished it like a wand, "I'll be the Wicked Witch, get in your tower!"

Emily laughed with her and allowed herself to be directed to the Clearwater tree house. The rest of the afternoon followed in much the same way and by the end of it, both Sam and Leah were considerably impressed by Emily's talent for make-believe. As Emily pirouetted near the house and helped Sue bring cookies and orange juice for them all to devour, Leah nudged Sam with a conspiratorial smile.

"She's nice, right?" she asked.

"Very," Sam nodded and then added quietly, "Not as nice as you."

Leah burst into a peal of laughter and made kissing noises which Sam shied away from.

"You like me better because you've known me longer," she told him.

Sam nodded again, grave as ever, "Yes, you're probably right."

It was true, he did like Emily a lot even though at that moment he could not ever imagine liking anybody better than Leah.

Abruptly, Emily appeared before them holding a plate of food in front of her with the kind of reverence one would usually reserve for magical pirate treasure.

"After we eat," she declared, "We'll play Fairytale again. I wanna be the Witch this time."

It was the first time Emily had declined the offer of a Princess but Leah had made the villain look like so much fun, she couldn't help herself.

Leah grinned and hugged her cousin, "And I'll be the Prince."

Both the girls giggled, "Then Sam can be the Princess!"

"Ew, no," he replied, his mouth full of cookie.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Emily swatted him.

"Yeah," Leah agreed, "It's bad manners!"

To which Sam replied by sticking out his tongue. The girls laughed, clutching each other, and then exchanged wicked smiles that Sam was at an utter loss to interpret. Still holding on to each other they sized one another up again, just as they had in the station, just as they would for the rest of their lives, before they broke apart singing and danced away towards the shade off the house leaving Sam watching after them with a mixture of wonderment and confusion.


End file.
